We’re convinced at this point that anyone involved in the streaming world comes from another planet; it’s the only way to explain the nuances and implied thought processes that we’ve watched unfold over the past couple of years; how on Earth are we living in a world where a Netflix executive hits the snooze button when presented with the sequel to crime-thriller royalty, and the term “television series” gets softly outlawed seemingly overnight?
Whatever the reason, it’s the same world that’s seeing Disney Plus continue their ego battle with Netflix, the same world that still has no idea what’s happening with Shadow and Bone, and the same world that will soon bear witness to the Anna Kendrick-directed-and-led Woman of the Year.
A Korean historical fantasy series will continue on in the Disney Plus realm
After Netflix kept trying to show Disney Plus up in the departments of animation and fairy tales with Nimona and Once Upon a Crime, it was only a matter of time before Disney Plus got fed up and snagged one of Netflix’s forgotten children out of spite (note: spite was likely not the driving factor here, but it would be quite funny if it was).
The child in question is the second season of Arthdal Chronicles, a 2019 Korean fantasy series whose strong viewership numbers didn’t quite match the lackluster reviews. It’s a strange move from Disney Plus no matter how you swing it, but so long as it’s enough to briefly rope in a few new subscribers, then mission accomplished.
You’re not allowed to say “TV series” anymore
It seems like every showrunner or television show director these days has some variation of a soundbite along the lines of “our show is really more like a movie” in their back pocket.
The latest to jump on this bizarre bandwagon was Shawn Levy, who dubbed the fifth and final season of Stranger Things as “major cinematic storytelling that happens to be called a TV series” and “as big as any of the biggest movies that we see.”
To Levy’s credit, he’s probably just more comfortable with the moviemaking mindset, considering his latest attempt at crafting a television series is apparently akin to barely treading water, but this reluctance towards embracing the status of a TV series is getting a bit old.
Shadow and Bone? I don’t even know her
Speaking of Shawn Levy, perhaps part of the reason he’s averse to the notion of television shows is the fact that Shadow and Bone, the fan favorite, top-notch Netflix fantasy series that Levy executive produces, is still in the canceled-until-proven-renewed space at the time of writing, so perhaps he’s come to associate “television show” with “inevitable casualty.”
Whatever the case, even Levy has no clue what Netflix is thinking when it comes to Shadow and Bone, and he’s about as close to the top of the show’s food chain as you can get. Indeed, we seem to be no closer to solving this mystery than we were weeks or even months ago, and frankly, the wait for an update has gotten more than a bit tedious at this point.
It’s not quite true crime, but it’s true enough for Netflix to spend eight figures on
Not to be confused with the 1942 film or the Parks and Recreation episode of the same name, Woman of the Year recently saw the end of its bidding war, and Netflix emerged victorious after shelling out $11 million for the crime thriller film. It’s no surprise, given that the film boasts the peculiar but lucrative combination of true crime roots and a soaring Rotten Tomatoes score at the time of writing.
Based on a true story, Anna Kendrick directs and stars in the film as a Dating Game contestant who initially chooses Rodney Alcala, notorious but then-unknown serial killer, as her best option, but quickly starts to have second thoughts when the vibes start to get sinister. Needless to say, it sounds like a match made in heaven for Netflix’s viewership bulk, so we’ll preemptively chalk this up as $11 million well-spent.
Between L.A. Confidential 2 and the snooze button, this Netflix executive’s choice might surprise you
Picture this: you hold in your hand at least part of the power necessary to bring forth a sequel to L.A. Confidential, one of the most prolific and influential crime thrillers ever, and when the opportunity arises to hit your slice of that big red button, you get a head-start on your eight hours instead.
That’s apparently what happened to one Brian Helgeland, the Academy Award-winning scribe of the original film, when a pitch meeting with a Netflix executive ended with said executive falling asleep in the face of the writer’s surefire viewership magnet.
Remember this day, folks, because we may have just bore auxiliary witness to the death of L.A. Confidential 2.